Rahul Gandhi's tour to tribal areas of MP and Chhattisgarh begins today

Congress General Secretary and the most speculated candidate of the party for prime ministerial post Rahul Gandhi will today carry forward his 'Discover India' tour by undertaking a four-day visit to tribal pockets in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Congress General Secretary and the most speculated candidate of the party for prime ministerial post Rahul Gandhi will today carry forward his 'Discover India' tour by undertaking a four-day visit to tribal pockets in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in New Delhi that Rahul's third phase of the 'Discover India' tour should be viewed as a 'holistic continuity' of 'some of the most unique, unprecedented, innovative, creative, special focus programmes' for the tribals led by the Congress-led UPA Government since 2004. He, however, said that Rahul's visit to Jharkhand has been postponed.

Rahul Gandhi had launched his 'Discover India' tour from Orissa on March 7, 2008 with a focus on two of his favourite themes - The Tribals Bill and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The four-day visit had commenced from the poverty-stricken and underdeveloped Kalahandhi area and moved deep into the Niyamigiri Hills, where he met members of the Dongria Khand tribe in the Ejrupa village. He followed this up with a five-day visit to Karnataka, interacting with Dalits and tribals, besides socially underprivileged sections of society.

These trips by the Amethi MP are also being used to galvanise the youth brigade into coming out in support of the Congress party and to join it in the run-up to a series of State Assembly elections being held across the country. The Congress also is preparing itself to go into general election mode as the year 2008 closes out in anticipation of the 2009 elections.